It may seem like there is a lot to personal finance. And in one sense there is. There are thousands of different approaches to personal finance. And this can get overwhelming. It may seem so overwhelming that you feel paralyzed at square one. But it doesn't have to be. There are a handful of things that are critical in personal finance. All the rest is splitting hairs. So go through each of these items one at a time and make an improvement in each area. . . .

Last week when J. Money went looking for recruits to dole out some $100s from the Rockstar Finance Community Fund, I gladly raised my hand. Because who doesn't like being Santa Clause?
The rules were simple. Rockstar Finance gave me $100 that I could use however I wanted, as long as I was DOING GOOD. Secondly, I had to share the story as an inspiration to others. I decided to attempt to be a . . .

Christmas is less than 20 days away. If you're really on top of your game, you've already finished your Christmas shopping, or at least most of it. However, if you're like most people, panic is probably starting to kick in as you realize that you only have about 2 weeks to buy presents for everyone. As you shop, tho, there are several mistakes that you should avoid, lest you finish up this . . .

Buying a house is a big step in life (although arguably not for everyone). Most likely, when you decide to buy a home, you'll need to finance your purchase. You'll be confronted with several types of mortgages to choose from. The most common type of mortgage is the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. However, don't just assume that this one is the best kind for you.
The Big Bad Balloon
Hopefully your . . .

A lot of personal finance focuses on savings: saving for retirement, saving for an emergency, saving up for a car or house, all in addition to the smaller savings goals that you may have set for yourself. The problem is, it's a lot easier to tell ourselves that we need to save than to actually stash away the money. Whether you're currently saving nothing at all, or just not as much as you know . . .

This is a paid post written by me on behalf of Discover Personal Loans. All opinions are my own
The average American household credit card debt is now $16,883, with overall U.S. household debt increasing by 11% in the past decade. More people may be finding it more difficult to meet their monthly bills due to rising medical, housing and other costs, and find themselves in debt now more than in . . .

Having a great credit score is important. A good credit score will help you secure loans such as a home mortgage or car loan for a lower interest rate. Having a good credit score will allow you to qualify for credit cards loaded with juicy cash-back bonuses and other perks. A good credit score also lowers your insurance premiums, and may even influence hiring decisions. However, despite all the . . .

Why do you care about money? Is this even a question worth pondering? Should we even care about money in the first place? And how much should we value money? Perhaps these are odd questions to come from a personal finance blog. After all, money is so important that I've spent hundreds of thousands of words talking about money. But why?
Overvaluing Money is Common. And Dangerous
Most of us will . . .

If you've done much online shopping, you're probably familiar with coupon codes. Pretty much every online store has a spot for coupon codes or promo codes somewhere in the checkout process. If you're ambitious, you've may have searched Google or Retail-Me-Not for promo codes. Chances are, you find several, most of which don't work. If you're lucky, you might find one that will work. Otherwise, . . .

Often when our budgets begin getting bloated, cable, internet and phone bills are chief culprits. These have a tendency to slowly grow over time, and because they are recurring monthly bills, little changes make big differences.
If your budget allows for what you're currently spending in these categories, great! But if you aren't putting enough into emergency funds, retirement funds or . . .

Knowing how much insurance to buy is one of the harder topics of personal finance. It factors in the future, and all the unknowns that come with the future. On the one hand, insurance protects your wealth from negative events in the future. On the other hand, however, insurance costs you in the present, which in turn, costs you in future earnings on that money. Buy too little insurance, and you . . .